Actor. Born Richard Michael Mayall, the second of John and Gillian Mayall's four children, in Matching Tye, near Harlow, England. He started performing early, appearing in productions staged by his drama teacher parents. He attended the University of Manchester where he met his future comedic partner, Adrian Edmondson. He performed as a stand up comic where he honed such characters as a pompous anarchist poet, who would later be translated into the character Rik in the cult television series, The Young Ones, which ran from 1982 to 1984. In 1985, appeared in the popular comedy series Blackadder (1983) as Mad Gerald. He returned to play the larger than life Lord Flashheart in the Blackadder II (1986) and Squadron Commander Flashheart, in Blackadder Goes Forth (1989). He starred in The New Statesman from 1987 to 1992; his role as Alan B'Stard earned him a BAFTA. In 1991, he starred in the feature film, Drop Dead Fred. He then returned to British TV with Bottom which ran from 1991 to 1995. In April 1998, he was seriously injured after crashing a quad runner. He was in a coma for several days with a fractured skull. He appeared in the television series Jonathan Creek later that year. In 2000, he took a voice acting job for the PlayStation and Windows PC video game Hogs of War. He was initially cast as the poltergeist Peeves in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), but the character was ultimately cut from the film. In the 2005 poll the Comedians' Comedian, he was voted among the top 50 comedy performers of all time. He reprised the role of Alan B'Stard in 2006 in the play The New Statesman 2006: Blair B'stard Project. In 2008, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Exeter. Over the next few years he did a great deal of voice work as well as two television series; Damo and Ivor and Man Down in 2013. He placed 91st in a "Top 100 Stand-Up Comedians" poll. He died suddenly at the age of 56. (bio by: Iola)

Burial:Non-Cemetery BurialSpecifically: Buried on Family Farm, East Allington, Totnes, Devon